Madden NFL 15

Breaking Down Madden 15's Top 10 Overall Players

Madden 15's Top 10 player ratings (based on players' Overall) have come out, which naturally stokes the fires of debate. We take a look at who's on the list and who isn't, compare the list with last year's top 10, and talk to football expert and Fantasy Sports Hall of Fame inductee Paul Charchian about the how the list stacks up with the real NFL.

Higher Profiles & Higher Ratings

Looking at the list below, while all of the players are certainly top-notch players in the league, could this year's renewed defensive focus in Madden NFL 15 and Richard Sherman's Super Bowl win be related to his appearance at the top spot? Certainly the cover appearance doesn't hurt either! Last year when Madden NFL 25 was released (both for last-gen in August and new-gen versions in November) Sherman wasn't in the top 10 (number 26 with a 96 Overall). However, the latest patch for Madden 25 – after the Super Bowl – put Sherman in fourth place with a 99 Overall rating.

"Richard Sherman is a really good player," says Charchian. "However, if they would have put this together at the end of the regular season, I don't think he would have been sitting at a 99. I think a lot of the reason he's at a 99 is the Seahawks won the Super Bowl and he was splashy in the playoffs."

Having a high profile certainly doesn't hurt a player's cause, whether fair or not. "At the same time, Darrelle Revis wasn't in the playoffs, so he doesn't have quite the luxury. Alterraun Verner – great cornerback – and maybe at least as good [as Sherman], but Alterraun Verner didn't go to the playoffs."

The ascent of players like McCoy, Graham, and Charles – like Sherman – seems to mirror the big season these players had in real life, and seemingly points to the effort to catch the zeitgeist to a certain extend. Accordingly, it will be interesting to see how players' ratings change via the roster updates to the game as the season unfolds.

Keep reading to see who football expert Paul Charchian thinks could be on the list, as well as some predictions for the coming year.